Á mapa aure

“The Best of Times” in Quenya
2012 version

By Findegil / Björn Fromén

I arya lúron sí,
tuilello lemba lotse equélie;
i arya lúron sí,
man ista pá i noa ré, i nó, i ré?
A himya sillume,
na cuilen, melmen quante poldori,
anta voronwie
i aryan lúron ya ná sí, ná sí, ná sí!

Sí - ar lá i yáre úrénima.
Sí - i noa ré vahaiya ná.
A himya sillume,
na cuilen, melmen quante poldori,
anta voronwie
i aryan lúron ya ná sí, ná sí, ná sí!

Literal translation

Carpe diem!
The best of times [is] now,
from spring [the] small flower left behind has faded;
the best of times [is] now,
who knows about the day to be, the after, the day?
Stick to this hour,
[let there] be for life, for love full powers,
give lasting quality,
to the best of times, which is now, is now, is now.

Now - and not the former days unmemorable.
Now - tomorrow is far away.
Stick to this hour,
[let there] be for life, for love full powers,
give lasting quality
to the best of times, which is now, is now, is now.

Glossary

a or á the imperative particle

mapa- ‘grasp, seize’

aure ‘daylight, day’

i arya superlative of mára ‘good’ (PE 17, p.57)

*lúron genitive plural of lú ‘time, occasion’

sí ‘now’

*tuilello ablative singular of tuile ‘spring-time’

lemba ‘left behind, remaining’

lotse ‘(small) flower’

*equélie perfect tense of quel- ‘fade, wane’

man interogative pronoun ‘who’

ista ‘knows’

pá preposition ‘as regards, concerning’ (VT 44, p.26)

ré ‘day; nó ‘after’, noa ré ‘day to be, tomorrow’ (VT 49, pp.20,34)

himya ‘stick to, abide by’

sillume ‘this hour’ (VT 44, p.35)

na imperative of na- ‘to be’ (VT 43, p.14)

cuile ‘life’

melme ‘love’

-n in *cuilen ,*melmen and *aryan is the marker of the short allative (dative)

quante plural of quanta ‘full’

*poldori plural of poldore *‘strength, physical power’

anta ‘give’

voronwie ‘endurance, lasting quality’

ya relative pronoun ‘which’

ná ‘is’

ar ‘and’

lá ‘not’

yáre ‘former days’

*ú-rén-ima ‘un-memor-able’, (from *réne, Sindarin -rín ‘remembrance’ [PM, p.372], cf únótima ‘uncountable, numberless’ from nóte ’number’)

vahaiya ‘(very) far away’

Original lyrics (from La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Herman)

The best of times is now
What's left of summer but a faded rose
The best of times is now
As for tomorrow well, who knows, who knows, who knows?
So hold this moment fast
And live and love as hard as you know how
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now, is now, is now!

Now - not some forgotten yesterday
Now - tomorrow is too far away
So hold this moment fast
And live and love as hard as you know how
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now, is now, is now!

A note for the singer
The tune necessitates elision of the final e’s in lots(e) [line 2] and yár(e) [line 9].